1927 Jowett Long 4 Tourer - Barn Find

glorious looking thing , really nice proportions.

So what makes it go 




2 cylinder boxer engine - all 748cc of it - a mere 17 BHP 




No water pump either - your best 'Thermo Syphon' engineering at play here 




Now although its only 748cc & 17 BHP - it a boxer hence bags of torque at the flywheel - and its good job that its only a 3 speed gearbox and the whole lot tops out at 25 MPH 



Because look mum - no front brakes - never fitted from new 



So what slows it down then - well not a lot - there's a single transmission brake at the rear of the gearbox that's operated by the brake pedal 



After that you can yank on the handbrake with all your might which should in theory tighten the external brake bands on the rear hubs - you can try praying at the same time as well 



Turns out its a matching numbers car 




And that the 44,934 miles on the odometer is the genuine mileage from new 




Plans then - what to do with it - well a fettle in the drive train area - remove the fuel tank & carburettor in order to clean them up - new plugs / points / distributor cap / condenser & coil, fresh fluids in the axle / gear box & engine - new battery & leads - 5 new tyres - a glance & check over the brake application department - then a oily rag over everything else - I will get Mrs GN to make me a new hood when she returns from her travels then down the road it will be - slow but immense fun & a challenging drive - more once the parts start to arrive for it 

Certainly 3 speed & reverse and its on a change over year so some cars around this time had a early synchro system fitted and some didn't so until I get it running I don't know (or take the box to bits) - its quite basic to the point of being agricultural in some of the engineering but Jowett were marketing this has a low cost light car  

Pete - I'm hoping so - just had news that a pub down the road in fresh ownership is going to give car meets a whirl first one is tomorrow lunchtime  - need to get some stuff into paint then head over to the barn to see if I can wake the Javelin up - if not I'm tempted to load this back on to the trailer and drag it there for the meet tomorrow - they have asked for anything interesting - one thing for sure - no one will be turning up with one of these - especially in the barn found state of this one   

Love the Uxbridge concours d’elegance 1964 badge, as Uxbridge, and more accurately, its pubs, was my usual destination on a Friday and Saturday night.

Karl

So - On Saturday this happened 







Grumpy Towers became a car park for the day even to the extent we had to park a few motors out on the front layby verge 



But for a very good reason - On behalf of the of the Jowett Car Club I hosted a technical day - subject matter being pre war / vintage cars of the marque 



Some parts had been ordered in advance of the day from the clubs spares department 



A well attended day by 8 of us - all of which had travelled some considerable distances to attend - and a newer member that had recently acquired virtually the same model as my Long 4 



Fluid levels drained, radiator removed & flushed ignition components replaced 



Steering box removed, cleaned reshimmed & refitted 



Rear brake linkages striped - lots of wear that will require attending to



But easily sorted 



Virtually sheared rear brake shaft on the nearside 



Brake bands will require relining - these fit external to the drum 



And the drums could do with coming off and the faces skimming level - rear brakes are operated on the handbrake lever alone and are the main source of braking 



There is also a transmission brake that is operated from the brake pedal - this is also by an external brake banding - the drum through is cracked - its been welded up a few times - I'll see if Jowett car Spares holds a better one in stock otherwise it may well be a job for a certain johnnybravo and his laser welding talents but I need to talk to JB anyway has the front king pins require sorting (lots of play in them) - these need to be machined to size and the front hubs & axle milled / reamed to size to suit the new pins 



Radiator went back on with new hoses

 

Battery was connected once we had checked the electrics and we have the engine now turning over 



Gear selection was seized through the linkage and this was freed off & lubricated 



The cone clutch was also seized but we soon sorted this too 



A list of further parts required were made - a few ignition parts are required - carburettor requires another look as this is weeping 



The seats look like they are going to clean up fine - I don't want to go too far with this car - plan is to run it in a oily rag condition - A very enjoyable day had by all - great conversation over lunch - Much inspiration to get this one on the road for this summer whilst also enthusing other members to make a start on a few other Jowett back burner projects - Happy days   






 

Nice project, liking the colour..

Yep - we like it too - it was originally a lightish grey over black when it left the factory but was repainted in the yellow about 50 years ago - I have no plans on painting anything on the car - just a clean up and a wipe over with some boiled linseed oil  

The relined brake bands were collected yesterday whilst at a club committee meeting 



So that's another part sourced and off the list - still quite a few more tricky / more difficult ones to sort yet - but I'll keep plugging away at it